Since as far back as I can remember, I've been tinkering with computers: from an IBM PS/2 to an Apple IIe to a Gateway PC running Windows 3.1. In elementary school I got lost in the world of MS-DOS batch files and playing around with HTML locally. As I got older and got into bands in high school and college, it fell on me to become the band's official web designer, graphic designer, photographer, and videographer. At that point it was all static HTML, but it got the job done.
From there it was a natural progression into the world of database-driven web design. I started with PHP and MySQL, writing every single query character by character. I played around with Cake, the PHP framework, and saw the obvious advantages that a framework could offer, but it wasn't until I discovered Ruby on Rails that I really experienced the magic. I haven't looked back since.
After about 4 years of programming professionally with Ruby on Rails, I am interested in finding a team that can help me move towards becoming a lead / senior developer and/or stepping outside of the box and learning something new. Recently, Elixir has really caught my eye and I would love the opportunity to explore that realm a bit more.
And I think I get a couple extra nerd points for switching the keyboard on my old 12-inch Powerbook G4 to Dvorak way back in 2003. I still have that computer.
May 2016 - Current
Ruby on Rails / AWS / Sidekiq / Javascript / HTML / CSS
InQuicker does online medical scheduling. I am one of four developers on the Core Team which is responsible for maintaining the core Rails Application that provides three main interfaces: one for patients to book an appointment, one for medical professionals (our clients) to manage those appointments, and one for InQuicker staff to manage those clients.
As part of the Core Team, I am responible for new features (big and small) and general bug fixes. So far, I've been responsible for a couple major projects: a complete restructuring of the screening questions system, a total front-end re-design of the interface for medical staff, and a massive rspec refactor / clean-up.
August 2017
Ruby on Rails / Paperclip / AWS / Javascript / HTML / CSS
I've been collecting safety manuals for about a decade now, but the hard part is knowing which ones I already have. So, in an effort to remedy that and brush up on my Paperclip skills, I created this cute little archive. It's got a super simple admin interface for adding new manuals, and a fairly robust filtering system for helping me figure out if I'm on a flight with hot new manual to snag.
Spring 2017
Jekyll / Github Pages / HTML / CSS
This is my band's website. At first it was just a single-page site with some links to our social media accounts, until we outgrew that. The newest iteration is a full-fledged, multi-page site with news, shows, videos, and individual pages for each release. It has been a fun project to expand it as needed.
January 2015 - April 2016
Ruby / Rails API / AWS / Elasticsearch / Javascript / HTML / CSS
Evanta is a significant player in the world of leadership conferences, working directly with Colin Powell, Marshall Goldsmith, etc. There are about 200 conferences per year all over the US and Canada, including a Global Sports Summit in Aspen.
I was one of eight people on the Dev Team, out of over 200 employees, and my primary role was to maintain the Rails API that serves internal & external web apps, and iOS & Android native apps. Upon arriving I dusted off the RSpec suite and sorted out about 40 pending tests; I dug deep into the Elasticsearch implementation bringing it up to speed and then continued to be the resident search expert; and I worked directly with both the front-end Backbone developers and QA tester on how best to implement new API features. In the fall of 2015 I spearheaded an in-house RubyMotion rebuild of our shopped-out iOS app.
Over the last year I played a crucial role in the switch from Rackspace to Heroku, prepping the API and iOS app for multitenancy, and a couple massive code re-factors.
December 2014
Ruby on Rails / Bootstrap / Javascript / HTML / CSS
AudioFilms are perfect for long drives and epic road trips. AudioFilms are perfect for friends who've seen the same movie dozens of times and can quote the entire thing in their sleep. AudioFilms can paint amazing pictures in your mind because the pictures are already there, waiting to be retrieved!
This project hasn't been touched much in the last couple years, but I still love the idea! One of these days I want to build up the collection to 100+ titles and then try pushing it out into the world a bit more.
November 2014
Ruby on Rails / Bootstrap / Javascript / HTML / CSS
Chedda is a super duper simple expense tracker. It does nothing for you, aside from a little bit of math here and there, which gives you complete control. It started out as a proof-of-concept for a few logistical challenges I had rolling around in my brain, then it ended up being pretty interesting and useful. I originally made it as a single-user platform for myself, but my girlfriend said she wanted to try using it, and then a couple friends wanted in on the action too. I've got about 10 users right now with $100,000 in tracked expenses. I know. It's kind of a big deal. ;)
I'm really looking forward to the day when I have a couple years of data to play around with. I daydream about pie charts and line graphs.
Login to the demo account and play around with demo@chedda.co / password.
May - December 2014
Lux Construction is a residential construction and remodel business in Portland. We did everything from kitchen and bath remodels to decks and dormers to Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs). I was one of 6 full-time carpenters and we did everything from the demolition to rough framing to finish work. I love working with my hands.
June 2014
Ruby on Rails / Spree / Thinking Sphinx / Javascript / HTML / CSS
I was a contract Junior Developer for one month for Light In The Attic Records. They were becoming increasingly unhappy with Spree and wanted to pull it out while keeping their Rails app completely functional. I was pulled in at the end of the project mostly to help squash bugs, extend their Thinking Sphinx implentation, and adding small new features.
January 2014
Ruby on Rails / Nokogiri / AWS / Bootstrap / HTML / CSS
I really enjoy This American Life, but I absolutely hate the podcast subscription service through iTunes. Thankfully the current TAL podcast can be downloaded from their website for free, but I never remember in time and then I'm forced to listen through their weird flash player on their non-mobile-friendly website. Ruby to the rescue! I wrote a couple Nokogiri scripts, wired up an S3 bucket, snagged that super sweet domain, and now I'm good to go whenever I want. Over the 2015 Christmas break, I whipped up a quick RubyMotion iOS client. Screen shots available on github.
October 2013 - May 2014
CLP is a nationwide trades staffing agency. They hired me on as a Carpenter Apprentice and I worked primarily on two different jobs. The first one I spent a month at the Camas Paper Mill with a roofing crew installing new laminate roofing. When that job ended at the beginning of November, I started working with Seismic Technologies, a Portland company that does foundation repairs. For about 6 months I was the working foreman on two residential houses. We were demolishing inner structures (dry wall, light steel framing, etc), re-routing plumbing and electrical, shoring, demolishing the existing concrete foundation, digging trenches, setting rebar, building and setting forms, and pouring concrete. It’s hard and dirty work, but it was fun.
September 2013
Ruby / Sinatra / Bootstrap / HTML / CSS
The story with poopypants.net goes all the way back to the Fall of 2008. I took a picture of a funny little scrap of paper taped on my brother's bathroom wall that somehow turned into my most-viewed photo on Flickr, Professor Poopypants's Pocket-Sized "Name Change-O-Chart 2000". As an exercise in Ruby programming, I turned that chart into a little ruby script, and then turned that ruby script into a ruby gem! The website was the logical next step. You can read the full history at poopypants.net/about.
October 2011 - August 2012
Ruby on Rails / Javascript / HTML / CSS
Luna Sandals was created by some friends of mine in Seattle, and I worked for them for about a year. During that time I worked remotely from Portland, OR, doing a wide range of web and graphical design as well as some marketing and promotion. My main task was to redesign the homepage (which has since been swapped out for shopify), but I also worked on a complete overhaul of the backend, tying in a new inventory system. I also traveled to Seattle once a month to help in the factory: making/packing/shipping sandals, streamlining factory systems, and getting hands-on so I knew how best to fix problems and add features to the factory production site. I also traveled with the company to the Copper Canyons of Central Mexico and ran the 2012 Caballo Blanco Ultra Marathon.
October 2007 - March 2013
I have worked seasonally for the United States Antarctica Program for the last 6 years, taking one season off to work for Luna Sandals. During my time in Antarctica, I generally took a break from the world of web design, working on a few little things here and there, but it was still a very valuable time in my life both personally and professionally. My story wouldn't be complete without it.
My first season at McMurdo I was a dishwasher in the kitchen. I spent 4 months scrubbing pots, washing dishes, and mopping floors. It wasn't a great job, but it got me to Antarctica. The next 2 seasons I was a trades helper, working with electricians, plumbers, painters, carpenters, etc. It was hard work, but it felt great getting my hands dirty and I learned a lot. My last 2 seasons I was a Fuels Operator, driving 2000-gallon fuel delivery trucks and fueling planes at the airfield. During my last season I spent 2 months at a field camp in Western Antarctica sleeping in a tent.
Winter 2011 - 2012
Ruby on Rails / Nokogiri / Twitter API / HTML / CSS
There was a time when I was an avid tweeter, but not in exactly the typical way. I used it more as a journal for myself than as a way to communicate with others. You wouldn't see a whole lot of @replys in my feed. Because of this, I was very disappointed in the extent of Twitter's archive (which basically didn't exist) and it's search (which only went back about 2 weeks). People were obsessed with the now, but what about last week or last month or last year?! I emailed them a bunch of times and wasn't really getting anything in return, so I decided to create my own archive. At first I used Nokogiri to scrape out my tweets and then eventually wired up the Twitter API. I stopped using it because Heroku added a 10,000 row limit on free databases, but thankfully Twitter finally launched an archive feature.
August 2006 - August 2008
Ruby on Rails / Javascript / HTML / CSS
ListYourList is a labor of love. It was my first personal Rails project, and I had a lot of fun with it. It helped me break out of the Ruby on Rails tutorials and into something real that was my own. It has been through a couple iterations and redesigns, and it is currently a read-only version in the middle of a redesign.
August 2006 - May 2007
I first started at Nintendo (Redmond, WA) as a game tester. I was one of the very first people to play the Wii, and it was my responsibility to play a game with a critical eye, find bugs, research them, understand the necessary conditions to repeat them, and then report those bugs clearly and accurately. Every couple days we would get a new version of the game and then go back and check to see if our bugs had been fixed. This process was repeated over and over again until we had a final version. I also worked in the tech support call center for about 2 months, taking phone calls and helping customers. My very first day on that job was the day the Wii launched. It was madness.
March - July 2006
Ruby on Rails / Javascript / HTML / CSS
After going through some Ruby on Rails tutorials with my friend Shane Becker, we decided to dive in head first on a project that he'd been playing around with for years. It was our very first real Rails project and excitement was in the air!
November 2005 - March 2006
HTML / CSS
I had just moved from Indiana to Seattle and found Discount Divers Supply. They were looking to upgrade their current website. I had a couple meetings with the owner about the different avenues we could go down. He hired me to help maintain the current site, which was and still is a hideous copy/paste hack job, while getting things going in the right direction. We went back and forth many times during my employment there, but in the end he wasn't willing to change.
August 2004 - August 2005
PHP / Javascript / HTML / CSS
Working in the Indiana University Information Technology Group in Bloomington, Indiana, was my first real job as a web designer. I worked directly with the faculty of the chemistry department, creating profile pages for each of them. I also worked directly with some of the research projects to build data-entry systems for experiments.